News Brief

8/21/2013, Elul 15, 5773

Hamas Executions Draw Ire of Human Rights Watch

The Human Rights Watch organization has issued a call to Hamas, the rulers of Gaza, to cease executions. According to a report the group released this week, the Gaza legal system is "fundamentally flawed." The group stated that "Hamas authorities in Gaza executed prisoners who were convicted despite severe due process violations and unfair trials. The convictions included cases of prolonged arbitrary detention, credible allegations of torture, and convictions based primarily on coerced confessions."

HRW singled out the case of a man sentenced to death for a murder committed when he was 14-years-old as a violation of The Convention on the Right of the Child and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. However they added that Hamas cannot be legally held to such agreements because "the Hamas-run Gaza government is not internationally recognized as a state and therefore cannot ratify international human rights treaties".

Hamas rejected the claims outright, arguing that death penalties were justified by Islamic Sharia law in order to deter “would-be criminals.”